History of western Nebraska and its people, Vol. III, Part 101

Author: Shumway, Grant Lee, 1865-
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Lincoln, Neb., The Western publishing & engraving co.
Number of Pages: 1056

USA > Nebraska > History of western Nebraska and its people, Vol. III > Part 101

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

HENDY VOGLER, ranchman and prom- inent citizen of Kimball county, is well known in this section of Nebraska where, for years, he has been engaged in successful business enterprises, and has also served frequently and efficiently in public capacities. He was born in Baden, Germany, October 8, 1864. His parents were Peter and Anna Vogler, who had a family of ten children, three of whom, Peter, George, and Henry, came to the United States.

Henry Vogler grew to the age of eighteen years in his own country, where he received a public school education. In 1871 his older brother, Peter Vogler, had emigrated to the United States and established himself in Cass county, Nebraska, and when Henry reached this country, in 1882, he made his way across the continent as far as Nebraska and joined his brother. During the first winter in Cass county he attended school, but left his brother's farm in the spring of 1883, went to Lincoln and there secured employment in a grocery and bakery store, where he worked faithfully for the next three years. In the meanwhile he had prudently saved his wages, in prospect of going into business for himself and this he was able to do after coming to Dix, the town then being in old Cheyenne county. Mr. Volger not only embarked in an enterprise of his own, opening a general merchandise store, but he became a moving force in the development of the place. Through his ef- forts Dix became a postoffice, and he was the organizer of the first school there.

Mr. Vogler continued in the mercantile bus- iness at Dix until 1895, when he was elected county clerk of Kimball county, removing then to Kimball, subsequently serving three terms in that office. At Kimball he again went into the mercantile business with a partner, B. K. Bushee, and this partnership continued until 1908, when Mr. Vogler was elected county treasurer, which office he held two terms, this being marked evidence of the confidence with which he had inspired his fellow citizens. In 1908 Mr. Vogler, in association with Gus Linn and J. J. Kinney, bought the Bank of Kimball, and Mr. Vogler continued in the banking bus- iness at Kimball until 1914, when he sold his interest and since that time has mainly devoted his attention to affairs pertaining to the devel- opment and improvement of his ranch in Kim- ball county, a valuable property of large ex- tent.

In 1887 Henry Vogler was united in mar- riage to Miss Clementine Neeley, who is a daughter of Samuel and Anna Neeley, and nine children have been born to them, one of whom died in infancy, the others being as fol- lows : Olive, who is the wife of W. T.

514

HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

Young; George, who is cashier of the Bank of Kimball; Shirley, who owns and operate: a moving picture theatre ; Robert, who is also employed on the ranch, and Margaret, Bonita, Ruth, and Donald, all of whom reside with their parents. Mr. Vogler and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. He has always been a busy man but is social by nature and is a valued member of the Mod- ern Woodmen and the A. O. U. W., and other fraternal organizations.

B. F. ROBERTS, gained in earlier years a broad experience in connection with the cattle industry, in the activities of which he was engaged for more than a decade in Wy- oming, and of the same important phase of industrial enterprise he is a prominent and influential exponent in Scottsbluff county at he present time. He is one of the substantial landholders of this county and has here done much to promote the raising of the best types of cattle and horses, besides which he is simi- larly progressive in the agricultural depart- ment of his ranch enterprise and is. liberal and public spirited as a citizen - one of the wholesome and well fortfied "boosters" of whom the Nebraska Panhandle may well be proud.

Mr. Roberts was born in Woodford coun- ty, Illinois, on the 10th of April, 1870. Both of his parents were born and reared in Eng- land, where their marriage was solemnized. The father served with marked valor in the Crimean war, in which he was wounded in action, and the English government awarded him several medals for gallantry on the field of battle. He came with his young wife to America in the year 1865, and thereafter they continued their residence in Illinois until 1887, when they came to Nebraska and numbered themselves among the pioneer settlers of what is now Scottsbluff county. Here the father took up a homestead, to which he perfected title in due time and upon which he made good improvements. He and his wife merit place on the roll of the sterling pioneers of Scottsbluff county.

B. F. Roberts gained his rudimentary edu- cation in the public school of Illinois and was a lad of fourteen years at the time of the family removal to Nebraska. Settlement was first made near Sidney, Cheyenne county, and from that locality the family removed to the present Scottsbluff county when the subject of this sketch was still young. He attended school at irregular intervals after coming to Nebraska. At the age of eighteen years he went to Colorado, where he was employed two

years on a horse ranch, after which he in- itiated his career as a cowboy in Wyoming, where he was employed for a period of elev- en years, and with characteristic thrift he saved his earnings, with a view to establish- ing himself in an independent business enter- prise. In 1890, he took up a homestead in Wyoming and stocked the ranch with cattle, besides making special effort to bring his stock up to the highest standard. Mr. Roberts like- wise followed the same plan in the raising of fine horses, and his father had supervision of the homestead while he himself continued his activities on the range, his services as a cat- tle herder having been expert and having commanded from him the maximum wages. About 1890, he took charge of the Castlerock irrigating ditch, to the supervision of which he continued to give his attention about six years. In the meanwhile he had accumulated on his ranch a fine herd of about five hundred white- face Hereford cattle, including some of the best sires that had been introduced in Wy- oming and western Nebraska, besides which he had developed some of the best prize-win- ning Percheron horses in this section. Af- ter leaving Wyoming Mr. Roberts returned to Nebraska, and in Scottsbluff county he is now the owner of a valuable ranch property of over two thousand acres, a considerable part of the tract being supplied with excellent ir- rigation faclities and making it list with the most productive and valuable agricultural land in the Nebraska Panhandle. Mr. Rob- erts still conducts large and successful opera- tions in the breeding and raising of the best types of horses and cattle, and in every way he has shown his capacity for doing big things in a big way. His civic liberality and public spirit are of the most consistent order. He owns the controlling stock in the McGrew State Bank, of which he is president, the vil- lage of McGrew being some miles distant from his finely improved ranch, the equipment of which is of the most approved modern stan- dard. Mr. Roberts has never had time or inclination for the activities of the political arena, devoting his time to business.

The year 1897, recorded the marriage of Mr. Roberts to Miss Ida Davis, whose father was a pioneer settler in western Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Roberts have a fine family of seven children: Edith G., James William, Alonzo, Walter W., Rollin R., and Benja- min F. Miss Edith Roberts was graduated in the high school at Gering and is, at the time of this writing, in the winter of 1919-20, a student in the University of Nebraska.

515

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

CHARLES J. McCUE has lived in vari- ons localities and followed differing lines of occupation, and should be given pioneer dis- tinction in what is now Scottsbluff county, for he came here in 1885, and took up a tract of land on the line of Cheyenne and Keith counties, as then constituted. He proved up on his homestead, to the improvement and cul- tivation of which he continued to give his attention until 1893, when he abandoned farm activities and went to Pueblo, Colorado, where he entered the employ of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Company. With this cor- poration he continued in railroad work ten years and for the ensuing seven years was engaged in coal mining, at the Oakdale inine in Colorado. He then returned to Nebraska and engaged in farming and dairying enter- prise in Furnas county, which continued to be the stage of his operations until October, 1913, when he established his residence in the city of Scottsbluff, where he has since been engaged successfully in well-building. He has devel- oped a substantial business in this important line and his services are in requisition in the construction of wells in the most diverse sec- tions of the county. Mr. McCue is known as a reliable and progressive business man and loyal and public-spirited citizen. He has never sought or desired political office of any kind but gives his allegiance to the Democratic party. .

Charles J. McCue was born February 16, 1863, at Garden Prairie, Iowa, where his par- ents were pioneer settlers. He is a son of John and Anna (Davidson) McCue, both na- tives of Ireland. John McCue was young when he accompanied his parents on the immi- gration to America, and the family first settled in Rhode Island. The father eventually be- came a farmer in Illinois, later was similarly engaged as a pioneer in Iowa, and in 1881 came with his family to Clay county, Nebras- ka, where he purchased land and developed a good farm. He later removed to Furnas coun- ty, and died there in 1903, when about seventy- one years of age. His venerable widow still resides in that county and at the time of this writing, in the winter of 1919, she is eighty- six years of age. She was fourteen years old when she came with her parents to the United States, and she was reared in McHenry coun- ty, Illinois. In her native land she was denied educational advantages and she did not learn to read and write until she was forty-five years old, though her alert mentality has largely enabled her to overcome this handicap along specific educational lines.

Charles J. McCue was reared and educated in Iowa, whence he accompanied his parents to Nebraska in 1881. In 1885, shortly after attaining his legal majority, he took up a frontier homestead in what is now Scottsbluff county as previously intimated in this sketch, and there he remained until his removal to Colorado, as already noted. It is worthy of special mention that while he was out on a hunting trip in 1886, he killed deer at a point within ten miles of this present city of Scotts- bluff.

At Ogallala, Nebraska, on the 22d of Feb- ruary, 1893, Mr. McCue wedded Miss Katie Meyer, who was born in Iowa, where she was reared and educated in Washington county. She came to Nebraska and entered a home- stead claim in Chase county, where she even- tually perfected her title to the property. She died in 1910, at the age of forty-two years, and is survived by three children: Viola Rowe of Lander, Wyoming, has one daughter ; Orson W., who is now with the American forces in the Army of Occupation in Germany ( Novem- ber, 1919), saw eighteen months of active ser- vice in France and felt the full tension of the great conflict : he was severely gassed while with his command in the trenches, and as a result was confined to a military hospital from July 22, 1918, until the 1st of the following November, his military membership having been in Company D, Third Division of Amer- ican Expeditionary Forces; Alva B., the younger son, remains with his father at Scotts- bluff.

RICHARD S. KNAPP was a lad of about eight years when his parents came from Iowa to Nebraska, and eight years later the family became pioneer settlers in what is now Scotts- bluff county. Thus from his youth he has witnessed and participated in the development and progress of this county, which was then a part of Cheyenne county, and he is now numbered among the substantial and repre- sentative exponents of agricultural and live- stock industry, as the owner of a large and well improved landed estate, six miles north- west of Bayard.

Mr. Knapp was born in Pottawattomie county, Iowa, August 28, 1871, and is a son of Philo P. and Hattie C. (Otts) Knapp, the former was born in the state of New York, in 1838, and the latter was born in Ohio, in 1840, their marriage having been solemnized in Iowa, in 1860. In the Hawkeye state Philo P. Knapp continued his activities as a farmer until 1879, when he came with his family to

516

HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

Nebraska and settled in Cass county. There he continued his agricultural operations until 1887, when he became one of the pioneer set- tlers of that part of Cheyenne county that is now included in Scottsbluff county. Here he perfected his title to a homestead and a tree ciaim, and with the passing years he made good improvements on this property, and gained a place as one of the sterling pioneers and influential citizens of his community. He died at Plattsmouth, this state, in 1904, and his widow passed away there in 1917, the names of both meriting enduring place on the roster of the honored pioneers of Scottsbluff county.

Richard S. Knapp acquired his early educa- tion in the public schools of Cass county, this state, and was a lad of about sixteen years at the time of the family removal to what is now Scottsbluff county. Here he assisted his father in the reclamation and development of the home ranch, and in 1893, entered claim to a homestead of his own. He proved up on this place and continued successful operations as a farmer for thirteen years. He then sold the property and purchased his present val- uable estate, which comprises two hundred and eighty aeres well situated six miles northwest of the village of Bayard. In the work and management of this finely improved farm he has the effective assistance of his sons, and the place is supplied with excellent irrigation fa- cilities. Mr. Knapp was one of the builders and officials of the Bayard irrigation ditch, and he has been specially prominent in connec- tion with the construction of the irrigation ditches which have added so greatly to the success of agricultural enterprise in the coun- ty. Scarcely a ditch has been built here with- out his active assistance in construction work, and he is a recognized authority in local irri- gation enterprise. He has been loyal and lib- eral also in the promotion and support of schools and churches, and has served as a school officer in his district for fifteen years. He helped to build school houses and churches when such improvements were compassed only by the donation of work on the part of the citizens, and no worthy community under- taking has failed to enlist his earnest support. His political views are shown by his align- ment in the ranks of the Democratic party, and in a fraternal way he is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America; both he and his wife are members of the church.

In April, 1896, at Gering, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Knapp to Miss Emma M. Jamison, whose parents were numbered among

the first settlers in the Minatare district of this county. Mr. and Mrs. Knapp have six chil- dren, the two older sons having both grad- uated from the high school at Bayard and now are their father's able assistants in the work and management of the home ranch. The names of the children are here entered in re- spective order of birth: Rufus R., Harold E., Mabel G., Philo D., Ambrey, and Frank. The younger children are still in school at the cime of this writing and the family is one of prom- inence in the community.

W. M. BARBOUR, is one of the represen- tative agriculturists and stock-growers of Scottsbluff county, where he established his home in the early pioneer days and where his ability and energy have conspired to win to him a generous measure of prosperity, as well as secure status as an influential citizen of the county. He is associated with his venerable mother in the ownership of a well improved and valuable landed estate of six hundred and forty acres, and on this splendid property he has demonstrated most fully the splendid na- tural advantages of this favored section of the state.

Mr. Barbour was born at Spava, Fulton county, Illinois, January 25, 1860, and is a son of William and Cynthia (Carter) Barbour, the former was born and reared in Ohio and the latter was born in Rock Island county, Illinois, where her parents were pioneer set- tlers and where she was reared to adult age, her educational advantages having been those of the common schools of the locality and per- iod. William Barbour was a young man when he removed from Ohio to Illinois, in which latter state his marriage was solemnized. Dur- ing the major part of his active career he fol- lowed the basic industry of agriculture, and he was about seventy years of age at the time of his death. He was a soldier of the Union in the Civil war, during which he served as a member of an Illinois volunteer regiment. In polities he was a staunch Republican.

The only one of his parents' children who grew to adult age, W. W. Barbour passed the period of his childhood and youth on the home farm in Illinois, where he gained valuable ex- perience, and made good use of the advantages afforded in the public schools. In 1887, after the death of his father, he came with his widowed mother to what is now Scottsbluff county, Nebraska, and both entered homestead claims, which were adjacent. Here they have resided during the long intervening years that have brought marvelous advancement and un-

517

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

stinted prosperity in this section of the state, and they are associated in the ownership of a fine landed estate of a full section of land, Mr. Barbour having added materially to the area of the original homesteads, by wisely in- vesting his surplus funds in the land whose value he had proved through personal exper- ience. His land is now very valuable, and this statement in itself bears great significance. He has been the apostle of progress and has done much to support those activities that have con- served the advancement and prosperity of his county along both civic and industrial lines. He was one of the original nine men who pro- jected and brought to completion the Enter- prise Irrigation Ditch, and was concerned also in the construction of the Winter Creek Ditch. His devoted mother, who celebrated in 1919 the seventy-eighth anniversary of her birth, remains with him in their attractive home and she is revered as one of the gracious pioneer women of the county. She has long been a devoted member of the Presbyterian church and is still notably active in its work.

Mr. Barbour has been active and influential in the local ranks of the Republican party and has served two terms as county commissioner -a part of the time as chairman of the board. In this office he did much to further pubilc improvements of important order, and he has been chairman of the board of the Enterprise Irrigation Ditch from the time of its organ- ization to the present. The high popular es- timate placed upon his character, his ability and his civic loyalty, was shown in 1918, when he was elected to represent his county in the state legislature, his district including also Morrill county. As a legislator he is fully justifying the wisdom of the popular choice and is an active working member who is alert in protecting and advancing the best interests of his constituent district. He has served lo- cally also as chairman of the Scottsbluff Drain- age Ditch, and few citizens have been more zealous in the promotion and support of well ordered irrigation projects. He was one of the organizers and is still a stockholder of the Independent Lumber Company of Scottsbluff. In a fraternal way he is actively affiliated with Scottsbluff Lodge, No. 26, Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

Mr. Barbour married Miss Nellie M. An- drus, who was born and reared in Nebraska, and died in 1888. She is survived by two children: Neale married Miss Louise Owen and they have one child, Jane Aldreth. Neale Barbour is one of the successful agriculturists and stock-growers of Scottsbluff county.

Charles B., the younger son, likewise is up- holding the honors of the family name as one of the representative young farmers and stock- raisers of the county.

FRED REYNARD MORGAN, one of the prominent and progressive business men of Kimball and the Panhandle, is distinctively a Nebraska product. He was born, reared and educated within the boundaries of the state and his business life has been bound up with the progress and development of the south- western section. He is a member of a fine old pioneer family of Hall county and the thir- teen children have played important parts in the industrial and civic life of the state. They inherited from their father the sturdy traits and high ambitions of the English as he was born in the Island of Great Britain. Today Fred Morgan is numbered among the substan- tial business men of Kimball, has been prac- tically the architect of his own fortune, and having based his life's structure on firm foun- dations, has builded soundly and well. When he entered upon his commercial career he was possessed of little save a good elementary edu- cation, inherent ability and a determination to succeed, and these have been sufficient, through their development, to enable him to become the leading drug merchant in a flour- ishing community that does not lack for able men.

Mr. Morgan was born in Grand Island, Ne- braska, February 15, 1879, the son of Daniel and Elizabeth A. Morgan. The former came to Nebraska during the pioneer days of the early 'seventies, as he located in Grand Island in 1870 and opened a grocery store in what was then a frontier town. This business proved good and Daniel Morgan, being a well educated man of affairs entered actively into the civic and communal life, in which he took an important part for many years. Thirteen children made up the Morgan family of whom the following are living in Kimball county : Fred R., of this review ; Arthur, an electric engineer, and Walter, a well known farmer of this section.

The children grew up in Grand Island and Fred with the others, was given advantage of the educational facilities in the town. As soon as his education was finished, the young man entered a leading drug store as apprentice, ap- plied himself to the study of pharmacy and passed the state pharmacy examination in 1902, becoming a registered druggist and li- scensed to practice in Nebraska. In Novem- ber of that year Mr. Morgan was offered and

518

HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

accepted the management of a drug store owned by D. Atchison, here in Kimball, hold- ing this position until 1906 when he purchased the business outright and has since been sole owner. In 1917 he built a fine new store, car- ries one of the most complete stocks in the Panhandle and has gained a high reputation for his prescription business. A druggist has the life of the community as much in his care as the physician who writes the prescriptions, and Kimball has indeed been fortunate in having a man of such ability and skill to take part in the general welfare of the community. As a business man Mr. Morgan has shown keen foresight, executive ability and resource- fulness, has known just when to expand his growing interests, has inaugurated many new and attractive innovations in his store which today is one of the largest in the southwest and has a large and increasing trade, both in city and from the surrounding country.

From first locating in Kimball, Mr. Morgan has taken an active and interested part in the welfare of the community and its progress ; he is modern in his own business methods and believes that civic affairs should be run on a good, sound business basis and since being elected to the city council in 1914, where he served four years, was the means of establish- ing its affairs on a substantial basis, which is proving of benefit to the citizens.

In 1907 Mr. Morgan married Miss Mar- garet Wilkinson, of Pine Bluffs, Wyoming, the daughter of John and Margaret Wilkinson. The daughter, born in England, came to the United States with her parents in 1884. The family first located at Ainsley, Nebraska, then moved to Wyoming, where John Wilkinson was a successful and well-to-do sheep and cat- tle raiser.

Mr. Morgan is a sturdy adherent of the tenets of the Republican party and is a Ma- son in high standing, having joined that or- ganization in 1904, he passed from one lodge to another rapidly, becoming a member of the Consistory in 1916 and a Shriner in 1917. He is a Presbyterian and his wife an Episcopalian. Since coming to Kimball Mrs. Morgan has made many friends and they have a charming home where their friends enjoy their cordial hospitality.

WILLIAM A. HALE merits special con- sideration as one of the honored pioneer citi- zens of western Nebraska and he is now living virtually retired, in the city of Scottsbluff. He was one of the pioneer teachers in the public schools of this state and is a man of fine in- tellectuality, as well as the possessor of those

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of western Nebraska and its people, Vol. III, Part 101

Author: Shumway, Grant Lee, 1865- Publication date: 1921 Publisher: Lincoln, Neb., The Western publishing & engraving co. Number of Pages: 1056

Author: Shumway, Grant Lee, 1865-
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Lincoln, Neb., The Western publishing & engraving co.
Number of Pages: 1056